


The Seven Seas

by MikelaArts



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Didn't know who should be the merman, Other, flipped a coin on it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 06:16:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7746319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikelaArts/pseuds/MikelaArts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from Tumblr - Person A is the captain of a pirate ship. Their crew raids a ship that supposedly has priceless treasure inside. What they find is Person B, a merfolk held prisoner in the lower decks, chained to the floor and dying. Person A frees Person B, who decides to swim along with their ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Seven Seas

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I had two ways this story could go with either Rhys or Zer0 being the captain. I flipped a coin to decide who should of been it and here we are now. This is one of my longer ones but I don't think any of the prompts will go past 2000 characters. Enjoy!

Zer0 sat in their cabin waiting for their crew to discover their next treasure. It has been days since they left Sanctuary in search for the Hyperion, a ship rumored to possess a great treasure. Many have searched for the ancient ship but none have come close to finding it, that is until the Vault Hunter came along. With the help of their two navigators, Maya and Fiona, they were able to get a general location of where the ship should be. Now all they have left to do is wait until they somehow came upon the ship-

“Man the cannons!” Zer0 groaned mentally as they quickly made their way towards the deck. Salvador and Sasha were always too quick to attack something. Don’t those idiots know that if they sink the ship the treasure will be gone? Zer0 reached the deck and called off the order for attack, instead going for the sneak attack approach. 

“Get ready to fight. /Search the deck for the treasure. / Then bring it to me.” Zer0 knocked over a plank, connecting them to the enemy. They pulled out their sword as their crew ran to the other ship, itching for a fight. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t screaming enemies that greeted them but instead an empty deck. The ships boards were cracked in various places, its sail completely tattered, and the mast broken in half. The ship appeared to be abandoned for many years, if not decades. Axton looked over the ship to see if they had in fact located the right one, this couldn’t have been the treasure ship the rumor told of. He let out a sigh as he read the ship’s name- or what was left of it.

“The Hyperion. This is the ship all right but no one’s been here for a while.” Zer0 growled under their mask slightly. If the ship had been abandoned, then that means they took the treasure with them as well. This entire trip was for nothing; the rumor was false. Just before they could leave the ship, Maya grabbed their arm.

“We still haven’t checked below the deck, maybe they left some treasure behind.” Zer0 thought it over for a second before letting out a deep sigh and turning to his crew.

“Stay above the deck. / We are open to attacks. / Defend both of our ships.” The crew nodded at them before watching the coastline, making sure that the bandit ships stay at bay. Zer0 headed below the deck after making sure that their crew was in place and ready for battle. Wielding their sword, they descended the stairs carefully, ready to attack in case any enemies were still left. Below the deck wasn’t much different. There were cabins that were lined against a wall but alas they were all cleaned out, not even a pillow left behind. 

Zer0 continued down the hall towards the prison cells looking them over. There was a decaying body in one of the cells as well as a skeleton in another, proving that at some point this ship was active. Zer0 stopped in their tracks suddenly when they heard a rattle coming from the end of the hall. He listened for a moment, thinking maybe it was just the swaying of the ship messing with the chains. That idea was proven wrong as the rattling grew more aggressive, sounding as if someone was trying to break free. They made their way towards the last cell and glanced inside. 

Laying on the floor was a hybrid of some sort, the torso of a man but the bottom of a fish. His lips and skin were a light shade of blue as if they couldn’t breathe, strange considering the air was still breathable. He was a deathly skinny, his bones showing through on every part of his body, including his uh tail. The skin on his wrists was bloody and scarred as if they had been struggling for years. The man- fish- manfish suddenly stopped their struggling and stared at Zer0. He started to snarl and show his fangs at them, even though he didn’t look the slightest bit intimidating in his current state. 

“What do you want?! Here to kidnap me like those other savages?!” Zer0 looked the hybrid over once more before stepping towards the cell. With one swift kick, the doors caved in easily, startling the manfish. He pulled against his restraints, even more, trying to get away from them. Zer0 moved closer to him before squatting down to the floor and tilting their head. The manfish panted heavily and glanced quickly over to the window before looking back at them. Zer0 grabbed their face in their hand gently and looked them over once more.

“You’re a rare man. / I haven’t seen this before. / What are you really?” The hybrid took a shaky breath, not used to being this close to a human without them torturing him. “I’m a merman. I come from the sea.” Zer0 watched as he looked out the window once more, longingly staring at the ocean. They stood suddenly and pulled out their sword. The merman struggled once more, shutting his eyes and waiting for the pain to come. Zer0 slammed their sword down onto the chains, making the merman hit the floor. He stared up at them as they put their sword away and picked him up. 

“What are you going to do with me….” Zer0 ignored his question as he headed towards the stairs. “What do you consume? / We have plenty of food here. / Eat what you can, okay?” Zer0 looked down at the merman who just nodded numbly. They climbed the stairs with him and boarded the ship, ignoring the questions of their crew. They would explain everything to them later but right now they had to take care of their new hybrid. They carefully laid the merman onto their bed before leaving and returning with several kinds of food.

“U-Um…” Zer0 looked up at him again, a question mark appearing on their mask. “C-Can I get some water, please? From the sea.” The question mark grew brighter. “I need a lot…” Zer0 nodded before leaving the room once more. This time, he came back with Axton and Salvador carrying a barrel. They stared at the merman before getting pushed out of the room by Zer0.

“This enough for you? / This is the biggest we have. / Why do you need it?” The merman reached for him silently. Obeying Zer0 walked towards them before picking them up. “Drop me in the barrel.” Another question mark popped up but nonetheless Zer0 placed him into the barrel. The merman dunked himself under the water, staying still. After fifteen minutes Zer0 started to worry and nearly knocked the barrel over until he came up. He was no longer blue now, instead, his skin turned a peachy color. He smiled at Zer0 happily before pointing to the fish.

“I eat that; my name is Rhys by the way.” Zer0’s mask lit up with a “:)” as he handed him a plate full of fish. “Rhys, a nice name. I’m Zer0.” They sat near the merman and watched as he ate. Once he finished he began to tell them how he was captured. Apparently, he had met the captain one day near the shore and had fallen in love with him. He had trusted the captain enough to go onto his ship, despite there not being any water. The captain had tricked him though and chained him below deck until he told him where the other mermaids were. Rhys had refused to give out any information so they kept him down there for years before leaving the ship altogether.

“I guess I was an idiot for trusting a human. I know you will probably do the same. You’re trying to build my trust up now, aren’t you?” Zer0’s mask lit up with a “:(“ letting out a sigh.  
Zer0 ordered for their crew to keep bringing fish to Rhys whenever he wanted. In the meantime, they worked on building a bigger container for him. After three days Zer0 bought in a container that was half the size of his room. Rhys stared at the container curiously as the crew started to fill it with water. At this point, the others just concluded that their secretive captain as keeping this specimen as a sort of pet. Not that they were going to tell them anyway, they always had their secrets.  
Once the container was filled to the brim, Zer0 once again pushed out their crew members before shutting the door. They walked towards Rhys and pulled him out of the small barrel, carrying him over to the bigger container. “You built this for me?” Zer0 nodded their head at him before dropping him into the container. Rhys swam around for a while before popping back up, smiling at Zer0.  
“I like it, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to actually swim…” Rhys sighed sadly as he stared out the port window, watching the fish swim by. Zer0 looked towards the window as well before grabbing Rhys. Rhys started to struggle immediately, pulling away.  
“No! Let me go!” He continued his struggle as Zer0 pulled him out of the container completely. Zer0 held him firmly as they brought him to the main deck, walking towards the edge of the ship.  
“You can swim correct? /”

“Of course, I can, why- Hey!” Rhys couldn’t finish his sentence due to Zer0 throwing him overboard. He paused underwater and took a deep breath, tasting the open ocean that he’s missed for nearly a decade. Rhys smiled from ear to ear as he hugged himself and twirled in a circle. He stared in the distance of the Vault Hunter before swimming after it and jumping out the water onto the deck. Zer0 stared at him with a “:D “ lighting up his mask.  
“Why did you let me go?” 

“There’s no point in keeping you. / You deserve freedom.” Rhys smiled again and hugged the thin captain. He pulled back slightly to kiss his mask where his mouth should have been. Zer0 smiled a little under his mask before projecting a “<3 “. Rhys jumped back into the water and followed the ship towards their next adventure.


End file.
